1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a four-wheel drive motor vehicle of transversely-disposed engine type wherein an engine is disposed transversely at the front part of the vehicle body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a four-wheel-drive motor vehicle of transversely-disposed engine type, generally an engine and a transmission are disposed so as to be coaxial on an axis of the widthwise direction of the vehicle body and to locate the gravitational center thereof (a power unit center) in the forward position of an axle of front wheels. However, this arrangement results in an imbalanced weight distribution in the vehicle with an excessive load acting upon the front wheels. Consequently, running stability of the vehicle will deteriorate. Especially with recent popularity of more and more powerful engines, this problem of imbalanced weight distribution to front wheels has been troublesome.
Japanese Patent Application Laying open Gazette No. 63-103735 discloses one of the measures to releive the problem of an excessive load on front wheels. In this application, an engine and a transmission are disposed so as to be longitudinally offset from each other and to locate the gravitational center thereof in the rearward position of an axle of front wheels.
By the way, four-wheel-drive motor vehicles are usually divided into two types, namely, one which includes a center differential and one which does not. (Above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laying open Gazette No. 63-103735 belongs to the latter type.) This center differential distributes driving torque from a transmission to a front wheel side and a rear wheel side. In the case of a four-wheel-drive motor vehicle having a center differential, the center differential is generally disposed coaxially with a front differential on an axis of the widthwise direction of the vehicle body, i.e. on an axle line of front wheels (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laying Open Gazettes No. 57-186522 and No. 59-176120). This front differential is to distribute driving torque from the center differential to the right and left front wheels
However, when setting the power unit center in the rearward position of the front axle, problem arises in this four-wheel-drive motor vehicle having the center differential. In order to dispose shafts for transmitting the driving torque from the center differential to the rear wheel side in the lower position of a transmission, the transmission and the engine must be located in relatively higher position. This requires a bonnet to be set in an unfavorably higher position.